Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1994 > PART II Chapter 3 Section 6 1

The educational priorities for children with physical and mental disabilities are to provide each child with an appropriate educational environment according to such factors as the level of disability, the child's stage of development, and the child's special characteristics; to help each child develop to his or her full potential; and as far as possible to help each child develop into an adult capable of participating actively and independently in society. Therefore it is necessary to provide education based on consideration for the special characteristics of each child.

In line with this philosophy, disabled children are educated at special education schools (a collective term for schools for the blind, schools for the deaf, and schools for the otherwise disabled) if this is necessitated by the disability. Children with mild disabilities attend special classes in elementary and lower secondary schools, receive special support services in resource rooms while attending ordinary classes, or receive special attention in ordinary classes. In Japan, therefore, the term "special education" is used to refer to education in special education schools or in special classes in elementary and lower secondary schools or the provision of special support services in resource rooms for children attending ordinary classes. The number of children receiving special education currently stands at 168,239 (as of May 1994). Of these, 131,113 children are at the compulsory education level. This figure is equivalent to approximately 1% of all children in this age bracket.